Discover the Sint-Janskerk in Mechelen
Visitors with a smartphone or tablet can now also discover St. John's Church in an interactive way. Via a handy app, they will receive information about the works of art during their visit. This makes St. John's Church the first church in Flanders to use the ErfgoedApp.
Volunteers from Torens aan de Dijle provide a warm welcome to Mechelen's historic churches and provide a word of explanation where necessary. During their tour of the church, visitors can use information cards, on which the most important works of art are indicated.
More background information
Torens aan de Dijle wants to give the interested visitor even more background information and is therefore using digital technology to highlight the beautiful heritage of historic churches even better. The non-profit organization uses the existing ErfgoedApp developed by FARO.
Part of St. John's Church has recently been reopened to visitors. Torens aan de Dijle has seized this opportunity to give extra exposure to works of art via the ErfgoedApp . This makes St. John's Church the first church in Flanders to be opened up in this way.
"The interactive display adds a new dimension to the visit. The church plant provided wifi in the church. Visitors can download the ErfgoedApp for free. By scanning a work of art, he gets underlying information. Thus, images, original letters and text fragments provide more interpretation," echoed Alderman for the Preservation of Monuments and President of Towers on the Dijle, Greet Geypen.
360° view
"Thanks to a scan with the camera eye of your smartphone or tablet, something is added to reality on your screen. For example, if you scan in the slide show of the murals from around 1400, you will virtually end up in the west tower. You can thus see the murals up close. We can do this thanks to a 360° image," says coordinator Sarah Luyten.
Visitors do not have to follow a set route, but can choose which artworks to scan. Today, nine artworks have been exposed. Towers on the Dyle now wants to see how visitors react and gather feedback.
Future plans
Towers on the Dyle wants to open up the entire St. John's Church via ErfgoedApp . Eventually, visitors will be able to discover the entire church interactively. Currently, the information is only in Dutch. In the future it will also be available in French, English and German. In this way, the non-profit organization tries to reach as many tourists as possible.
"After positive evaluation, Towers on the Dijle also wants to open up the other historic churches in this way. Of course, we will continue to use the traditional information channels. The ErfgoedApp is an extra on top," said Greet Geypen.
ErfgoedApp
Visitors to St. John's Church who download the ErfgoedApp can also use this application in other places.
St. John's Church is open every day from 1 to 5 p.m. except Wednesdays.